Wow. This book . . . just . . . there are no words. I wasn't prepared for the anxiety and stress I felt while reading this, especially the beginning. In the beginning of the book, when the pandemic is just beginning and there are all of two dozen cases in NYC, people are just so naive and unprepared for the severity of what is coming. I actually had to put the book down because I was feeling more stressed out than I thought I would. I honestly don't want to reveal too much about Diana and Finn because I want everything that happens to be a surprise to the reader. I will say that Finn is a resident at a hospital and his descriptions of everything that was happening at the hospital and his emotions and obvious helplessness were so incredibly powerful and moving and made me want to hug every nurse and doctor who worked on the front lines. This was an incredible book that NEEDS to be read!

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was ready to tackle a novel that not only takes place during COVID, but so much of the plot focuses on it. But I thought I'd give it a try, and I'm so happy that I did. Without giving anything away, I had a really hard time with Part 1. It didn't seem realistic and I had some issues with the main character, however, once you get to Part 2 -- it HOOKED me. This is one that will make you think and reflect on everyone's experiences this past year and give you so many feels.

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors and still remains to be. However, I will admit that I was a bit nervous because I knew it touched on COVID.

Diana and Finn have planned the dream vacation to the Galápagos Islands. When New York is ravaged by the virus, Finn, who is a resident at a large hospital, has to stay behind.

Jodi was able to capture the stark reality of the pandemics first wave and capture the fear and exhausting side the healthcare workers were fighting. These chapters were captivating and, at times, made me hold my breath.

I had a hard time getting into this story because of how close it hits home right now, but once I did I couldn’t put it down. It is overwhelming and thought provoking and the character’s experiences are relatable and make you feel something, it did not disappoint!

Picoult wrote a beautiful book about finding what matters in life, learning from and about relationships, and personal growth in Wish You Were Here. There is so much I really liked about the themes, the characters, and storyline of the book. Set at the beginning of COVID-19, Picoult was able to capture so many of the emotions, life changes, and struggles we all experienced during this stage of the pandemic. However, as we continue to live in a global pandemic where cases continue to rise, there is also part of this plot that is just "too soon."

Set during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic about a young woman who ends up stranded on an island in the Galapagos while her boyfriend is at home working on the front line as a surgeon.

I have read plenty of Jodi Picoult books and I have found her to be my favorite author. But this wasn’t what I had hoped it to be. I thought it would be nice to read about what is going on in the world but from a “fictitious” POV. But this left me with more questions than answers. I loved the beginning and it started off really strong but it fell flat towards the end. The ending felt like a cliff hanger to me which I also wasn’t a fan of because I know Jodi Picoult doesn’t do sequels to her books. I wish I could have given this more stars!! It was well written just not a book I enjoyed.

After not enjoying (or finishing) Picoult's last book I was eagerly awaiting this book and hoping I would enjoy it as I have with her other books. I was a little on the fence about if I wanted to read about the pandemic while we are still in it but as I was forced to quarantine I figured why not so I gave it a try. I loved the Galapagos sections of the book and definitely enjoyed the first half of the book more than the section half. The second half just fell a little flat for me and although I appreciate Picoult's depiction of someone surviving COVID and the aftermath of all that involves I just felt like it was a little too focused on the recovery part and not enough on the relationship between Finn and Diana and Diana and her mom. Overall it was a good read and it kept my interest but I did not enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed Picoult's other books.

Relatable and direct, this book hits personally. Jodi Picoult weaves a story that catches current vibes socially while addressing the seriousness of our current pandemic. Her style is easily read but masterful in complexity. You cannot stop reading this book once you start. You simply have to know how it ends.....thought provoking!

This book was utterly amazing. So many amazing books have come from Covid and this is definitely one of the best ones. Tragic, beautiful, heartbreaking, even haunting are some of the ways I would describe this beautiful book.


I preordered a copy for myself and my mother for Christmas.

What an interesting way to bring together so many facets of this pandemic we've been living in! I was engrossed in Diana's experience, completely... Did not want to stop reading!

Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult (a tried and true favorite for me), makes no bones about being a Covid story. Picoult wrote this while living in NYC in the early months of lockdown. The main character is an art seller stranded on “vacation” in the Galapagos (the home of Darwin’s natural selection theories), while her boyfriend is back in the states working nonstop as a resident in the hospital as Covid wreaks havoc on the city. The descriptions of Covid in this book are detailed / graphic, and it was, even for me, difficult to read at times (I honestly think it would be too much for someone who lived through 2020 in NYC or worked with Covid patients); BUT, the “twist” about halfway thru made this one of the best books I’ve read in a while… I don’t want to give anything away, but trust me on this. Don’t quit before 50%!!

I’m sorry… I know this is getting raving reviews (currently sitting at 4.15/5 on Goodreads with 21,177 ratings), I know this is Jodi Picoult, and I know I should have loved this, but I just… didn’t.

Diana, a woman with her life planned and on track, ends up traveling alone to the Galapagos at the beginning of the pandemic while her boyfriend, Finn, stayed behind for his job at the hospital. Yet things go awry when the island shuts down and she becomes stranded. Though she connects with a local family, this time alone sets Diana down a rabbit hole examining her own life and where she wants to be.

To start with the positives, I do think the writing was beautiful. I also think Jodi Picoult tried something interesting with the direction of the plot that delivered a shock value that seems to be going over well with the masses.

HOWEVER - I thought the plot twist was strange, the main character became overtly frustrating, and the story line became super repetitive (pre plot twist and post plot twist) that this felt like a chore to pick up.

Jodi Picoult is known for writing about really hard-hitting topics that generally make an impact. And yet, I didn’t enjoy this story. I honestly just don’t think I was ready for a book about the pandemic in general when we’re literally still living this nightmare. This wasn’t fun for me – but there is very clearly an audience for this so I encourage you to go read some more positive reviews and decide for yourself if this one is for you!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and to NetGalley for the ARC!

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is a beautifully written story about love and resilience during the pandemic.


Synopsis:

Diana O’Toole has goals. She will be married to her boyfriend and have kids before the age of thirty-five. Even though her boyfriend, Finn, has not proposed yet, she is sure that it will happen on their trip to the Galapagos islands for her birthday.

But, when more and more people in New York City start having patients who are getting sick, her boyfriend, a surgical resident, must stay to help the community. Diana goes on without him and while she is on the island realizes that she cannot get back to Finn for a very long time.

Stuck on a small island where she does not know the language and the hotel has been closed, Diana must learn to navigate a whole new world in paradise while the world is in the trenches of a pandemic. When will Diana be back with her love Finn who is tirelessly working day in and out? With so much time on her hands, Diana starts to question her life choices, her career in the art auction world and her relationships.

Thoughts:
-This book was well done to me, as a person who did not lose someone during the pandemic.

-Loved the description of the Galapagos Islands

-I do not want to say too much about this story to avoid giving anything away.

-As always thank you to all essential workers who continuously work with the public.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are okay with reading about the pandemic. I thought it would be a little too soon but ended up really enjoying this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

😳🤯😒💔

I was not ready for a pandemic story, however, I usually go into books blind and Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors, so I stuck with it. I'm glad I did because I was taken on a trip to the Island of Galapagos with Diana, who was supposed to be on a romantic getaway with her boyfriend, Finn, but he had to stay back to work at the hospital.

If you've never read anything by Picoult, you're missing out. She is a master storyteller 🥰 That being said, keep in mind this story is focused around covid and may be triggering for some.

Thank you Netgalley for the complimentary book ❤️ as always, all opinions are mine.

Narrator 5 ⭐

Extremely disappointed with this book, I have never read Jodi Picoult before but have heard great things about her. This book did not live up to my expectations. I don't think it helped to be reading about a pandemic as we are currently living it.

29-year-old Diana has her life pretty much all figured out. She’s rapidly climbing the corporate ladder at Sotheby's, and she’s in a relationship with surgical resident, Finn, with whom she shares a very specific vision of the future in upstate New York. And she’s pretty sure he’s going to propose to her on their upcoming trip to the Galapagos.

Except this book opens on March 13th, 2020. Finn encourages Diana to take their nonrefundable trip alone, and Diana gets stranded on a remote island in the Galapagos with very little cash, almost no access to communication, and even less Spanish. Forced to slow down, alone, in a beautiful and quiet place, Diana’s experience of the early days of the covid pandemic are in sharp contrast to the periodic emails she receives from Finn, who’s on the front lines in a NYC hospital.

And I wish I could say so much more without spoiling this book, but even going into this book knowing that Picoult was going to throw me a curveball, I was caught off-guard.

This is a book about covid, and it’s challenging and dark at times. Readers should go into this one prepared for a realistic depiction of the early days of the pandemic. I’ll put other CW in the comments.

I spent the end of March 2020 reading every piece of news in an attempt to understand what was going on to understand my own risk, quell my anxieties, and try to support the mental health of a caseload of clients without having any more information than they did. I found the experience of reading this book, with the knowledge of where we are currently in this pandemic, to be cathartic and validating more often than it was triggering.

Picoult captured the details of those early days in a way that I think will feel relatable to many, and has created an important historical text of this time period. At the same time, this was a captivating and engaging read without any easy answers.

And now, after reading my second book of 2021 set in the Galapagos, I really want to go!

Thanks to Ballantine for sending me a netgalley widget and putting this one on my radar.

This was the first book by Jodi Picoult I have read. I went into it with neutral expectations. While I enjoyed Diana's character at times, I don't think Picoult developed who she was enough as a person prior to the pandemic. I was so startled by the plot twist that it took away from Picoult's romantic writing. Writing a book that throws the reader right back into the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic is a risky move. I understand that Picoult wanted to write about this experience that many of us share, therefore it makes sense all of her Trump and modern day references, but they took away from the story.

I had been hearing friends rant and rave about this novel, so I was thrilled to be given an advanced copy. This book is thought-provoking and uncomfortable, seemingly hitting too close to home as it explores ideas of natural selection mirrored by the animal life at the Galapagos Islands as the world deals with a global pandemic similar to what we have been experiencing over the past couple years with COVID19. This book is another fantastic novel by Picoult, but it was gut-wrenching, as many of her books are. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

This may be too close to home for some as we are still dealing with covid 19. It deals with what it is to be human, and the love, resilence, bravery and hope in the face of a global pandemic. Well written.

Wish You Were Here is a story about covid and when everything first started. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this but I'm really glad I did! There is a twist you will never see coming! I highly recommend this book!